Carcinogenity, metal compounds table

Most metals, for which compounds are carcinogenic, are from IV group of Periodic Table of Elements. In biological systems, carcinogenic metals can form stable complexes and biological availability of these complexes determines the carcinogenic potential of various metal compounds. 

A variety of industrial materials, including metallic compounds (both organic and inorganic), are produced by multiple anthropogenic activities. Because of the manner of use and disposal, these often reach the environment and cause a plethora of potential health hazards.4 Of the above symptoms, the risk for CNS disturbances in a child s development or in the human adult has gained importance. Information concerning different metals (e.g., arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, many other compounds) and their possible carcinogenicity has been documented as a national priority in the literature (Table 3-1).6-1011... 

Metals are probably one of the most susceptible forms in the B. subtilis rec-assay system. Among 121 metal compounds rec-assayed with cold incubation, 44 are positive (Table 8B). These were then examined as to their mutagenicity by the Ames assay, and some of them were found to be positive. The frequency of the mutagenic samples among the rec-assay-positive cases is rather limited compared to the other categories such as food additives and pesticides. It seems that further improvements are required in bacterial reversion assays for metal compounds. Most rec-assay-positive metals either are carcinogens or cause chromosome aberrations or gene mutations in cultured cells. 

While several metals show at least some evidence of carcinogenicity (see Table 21.1), five metals are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as carcinogenic to humans. Arsenic and arsenic compounds, beryllium and... 

Transformation of Syrian Hamster Cells by Metals. When cultures of cells were exposed to two nickel compounds with different carcinogenic potencies, there were differences in the incidence of transformed colonies that formed (Table II). Treatment with amorphous NiS resulted in a low incidence of transformation while treatment with crystalline NiaS2 induced the appearance of numerous transformed colonies (Table II). In this series of experiments, control cultures had no transformed colonies however, in some experiments there was an occasional incidence of spontaneous transformation. The induction of transformation by... 

The carcinogenic activity of Be, whether administered in the form of the metal, alloys, or other organometallic compounds, has been confirmed in a number of experiments on laboratory animals (Leonard and Bernard 1993), as has been the case of cadmium (see Table 9.5). Epidemiological studies have not provided clear evidence of a carcinogenic hazard of Al (Leonard and Gerber... 

The unit risk estimates for metals and their compounds, which are classified as inhalation carcinogenes, are summarized in Table 1.10. 

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